Sequestration

DOD releases furlough timeline

• By Amber Corrin
• Mar 19, 2013

DOD civilian employees who are due to be furloughed will get notices soon. (Stock image)

The Defense Department has established approximate dates related to looming furloughs for civilian employees, according to published reports.

The schedule, which was described by Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale in Capitol Hill testimony last month, notes that furlough notices will be sent out as early as this week.

According to the Washington Times, the timeline is as follows:

March 21 through March 25 — Furlough proposal notices will be sent to employees.

March 28 through April 1 — Employees’ reply period will end seven days after their proposals were sent.

March 29 through April 24 — Furlough decision letters will sent to employees, depending on when their proposal notices were sent and prior to first day of furlough.

April 25 — Furlough period will begin.

The furloughs are a result of sequestration, and apply to civilian employees and not military personnel. Nonetheless, the uniformed services will be feeling the pinch as well as 10 percent across-the-board budget cuts, which went into effect March 1, begin to take effect.

"Let me make it clear that this uncertainty puts at risk our ability to effectively fulfill all of our missions," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said at a Pentagon press conference March 1, his first day on the job.

Hagel's deputy, Ashton Carter, also has stated that sequestration will have a diminishing effect on the military's operations and efficiency as the cuts begin being implemented.

"If you planned to fly, or to train in the next few months – that's their duty, that's their responsibility to our national security, and they're not going to be able to do that," Carter said at the March 1 briefing.